1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to doors and door closure apparatus and, more particularly, to a device for dampening the swinging open of a door using a linear slider.
2. Description of the Related Art
Doors or access covers, particularly those that are vertically mounted, typically lend themselves to being opened rapidly due to their weight and gravity. For example, when a user opens the door to access the interior of a machine and the user does not support the door through its rotation to the fully opened position, the tendency is for the door to swing open quickly. This may cause a shock load that can damage the hinge and/or the door itself. Also, an abruptly opening door gives an undesirable impression to the user that the product is cheap or of poor quality. Consequently, various damping devices have been constructed for attenuating the swinging open of a door. Some of the more common devices used to attenuate the rotational movement of a door use a torsional spring that is connected to the hinge and that provides a damping force when the door is opened or closed. Another common door damping device is a door engaging with a rack gear that attenuates the rotational movement of the door. However, such devices do not lend themselves especially useful in applications that have a small space to accommodate the damping device. If they are to be used, the footprint size of the product would increase which consequently contributes to additional cost to make the product.
Based upon the foregoing, there is a need to provide a reliable damping device for attenuating the swinging motion of a door that is compact, simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.